Ice-cream-cutting machine



Nov. 1, 1927., 1,647,384'

T; L. vALERus, E? AL,

ICE CREAM `CUH'ING MACHINE Filed Aug. 11. 1921 5 sheets-sheet 1 NVI. l,E92 7,

T. L. VALERIUS ET AL.

ICE CREAM CUTTING MACHINE Filed Alli. 1l. 1921 'um P l l l x Y 1,647,384T. L. vALERlus ET AL.

ICE CREAM CUTTING MACHINE Nov. V1E w27.

f v E Filed Aufz.11. 1921 .'hee'cs-Sheei; 5

6% m l vlli lo 7 so qa. 8g 88 VNov. l, 92?.

C Ll T. L. VALERIUS ET AL ICEI CREAM CUTTING MACHINE Filed Auz. 11. 19215 Sheets-Sheet 4 SLAB ou-r m PIN-rs.

ZQAL-5LB CUT \N \O @USES PER QT. j 35 lll- ...Il

' Z-QN... SLAB COT \N SHOES PER QT.

' bricks.

brick cutter shall be capable of operating Patented Nov.` 1, '1927.

f fumata stars s raras-'rf ICE-CREAMrC'TTNG. '.lVIACHINE.

application inea august 11, 1921. "sei-iai retenes?.

The object of this invention Vgenerally stated isV to. provide anautomatic 7 machine for cutting ice cream into bricks, slices orrcubes.V Subsidiary objects arel to provide simple means for adjustingthe machine to Vcut portions of the desired size; to obtain uniformityin size 'and shape of product; and. to provide for convenient and rapidoperation of themachine.

yIce'cre'am which is intended to be sold in the form of bricks', slicesor cubes is commonly 'frozen'in elongated pans or molds of suchdimensions that the contents ofthe mold may be cut transversely intoquart It is important that an ice cream before being subjected to thecutting oper-V ation, and therefore is comparatively ine compressibleand brittle. It is essential'that `the cuttingapparatus shall notsubject the 1 material to'any considerable degree'of coinbodying thefeatures of our invention. Fig.

pression, since such action would cause more or less crumbling of thematerial, asV Well as mechanical difculties in the operation of themachine. The machine herein disclosed .is adaptedtomeet the variousrequirements for effective and economical operation,

In thelaccompanvying drawings Figure 1 is,

a side elevation ofvone yform of machine em- 1EL isa section on line a-aof'Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a top plan vieivofl the machine. Figs. 3 and 4illustrate the forwarder. Figy is a View ofthe*discharge-end-ofsthemachine. 'Fig'. 46 is a' section-mi line 6-6 ofF ig. 2. Fig. 7 is a front view of theV strip-V per. Fig; 8 is a plan`vieiv of thev stripper. Fig. 9 is a'section on vline 9 9 of Fig. 8'.Fig. 10 isa View of the driving mechanism. Fig. 11 is a planvieiv'showing the relative location of the knives, the guides and thestripper. Fig. 12 is a fragmental view of the feed ratchet bar and itsadjusting means. Fig. 13 is a sectionon line 1313 of-Fig. 12. nFig.14-is a'section Online 14 of Fig.

12. Figs. 15, 16,v 17 and 18ers diagrams illustrating the manner ofcutting slabs into;k quart bricks, pint bricks, cubes andslices.

Figs. 19 `and 2O represent the knives used in cutting cubes. Fig. 21 isa plan view, F ig. 22 a sideelevation vof, and Fig. 23 an end view of aWrapping and packaging :table different from the one shown in Fig. 2.V

i *i stirata COMPANY, QF'CHXCAGO, .LLI'NO Upon the main frame 1 ofthemachine is secured atop plate or table 2. 3 is the for- Warder forpushing the slab 'of ice cream step by step into position beneath avertically reciprocating knife orset ofknives. v4 is a guide orl guardplate against which the operator places the slab, said plate serving"Ato locate the slab in proper relation to the knives. Said guide plate isiXeld to lugs 5 which in turn are attached torsupportsj 1 aiirdv-7'(Fig.' 2).V They support 6 is adjustably clamped upon a frame member 8which is rigidly ysecured to thev main frame. The support- 7 isadjustablyl connected 'to a bracket 9 rising from the vmain frame.` Byreference to Fig. 1vit will be seen that'the guide plate 4 is laterallyadjustable toward and away from the line of' travel of the slab. j

VThe knife` or knives 4are carried by van upper cross-head or knifeholder 10'1(Figs. 2 and 5) the ends of Which-are secured'to two rods 11which arervertical'ly reciprov` cable in guide openings 12 5) inth'e.

machine frame. llielower ends of the Vrods j 11 are attached to avcross-head 13.`

cross-headfl may bejof any' suitable charac-y ter there'is herein showna lever 14 Fig. 1) connected to thecross-head by links 15 and pivotedto-the machine vvframe 4atz'16; 4In a slot 17 in the. lever14 isslidably mounted a While I'the ine-ans for reciproc'ating'at'he block 18which is engaged byga crank pi'n19' y carried by av spur gearwheel 20.-vThe latteris-fixedupon one end ofa shaft 21.` 'Mesh-A king with the gearWheel'20'is a pinion 22 f fixed upon a shaft 28 that carries a sprocketWheel 24V. A drive chain 25 communicates power tothe Wheel 24 from asprocket-Wheel onv the shaft of a motor 26.

'Vhen quart bricks are -to be cut, Weemf,

Ya plate 28.

ioo

' vlhen the slab is to be cut intopintbricks, j

there is employed in addition to the knife 27 a knife 29 (Figs. 6 and16) arranged to sever the slab along a line extending centrally andlongitudinally of the slab.Y rlhe knife 29 is Vsecured to the'cross-head 10 by means of a holder 30 detachably connected to thecrosshead by a screw-stud 31.

lhen the slab is to be cut into cubes, say ten cubes per quart, we use,in addition to the knife 27, three knives 32 and 33 (Figs. 17, 19 and20) arranged to cut on three lines extending longitudinally of the slab.The knife 32, which cuts on the longitudinal cen ter line of the slab,Vis located so as to cut in advance of the two knives 33. rlliisarrangement is adopted becau-se the cream, be-

- ing frozen hard, is split by the knives and the severed portions aredisplaced to an extent corresponding to the thickness of the knives. Ifthe knives 32 and 33 were abreast of each other and operatedsimultaneously, the ice cream would be tightly jammed between saidknives and more or less crumbled. )Vith the arrangement herein disfelo-sed, the portions severed by the knives 27 and 32 are free to moveon the table as the said knives split off said portions from the slab.VYhen said portions are further subdivided into cub-es by the knives 33the cubes are free to move on the table. rhus it will be seen that thesevered portions are not `deformed or lcrumbled or `jammed between theknives. rlhe knives 32 and 33 are detachably secured to the cross-head10 by means of a holder 34 and a crewstud 31.

'lhe same arrangement of knives which is used for pints serves for allsizes of slices (see Fig. 18).

lt maybe here observed that the frame member 8`is arched to providespace beneath it for the passage of the slab. The top plate 2 has aportion 2?(Figs. 2 and 11) which extends forwardly beneath the knife.

Referring now to the forwarder 3 and its actuating mechanism.l Asindicated by th-e diagrams in Figs. and 16, the extent of movementimparted to the slab during` each step of its advance is the same forpints Jl 1.1. i. l

as ior quai-ts. When cutting cubes and slices, the length of each stepmust correspo'nd to the size of the portions to be cut.

slotted to accommodate the bars 38 and 39. in order to provide forvarying movement the forwarder, a plurality of sets of ratchet teeth areformed in the sides of said bars, and the rbars are rotatably mounted sothat they may bev turned .to bring the desired set of teeth intoposition for engage` ment by the pawls hereinafter mentioned.

'As indicated in Fig. 13, the ratchet bars may be of polygonal form,each face being provided with a different series of ratchet teeth. lnpractice the bars 38 and 38 are provided by the builder of the machinewithA ratchet teeth spaced to provide the feed movements necessary toproduce the various sizes of bricks, slices or other portions desired bythe particular ice cream manufacturer for whom the machine is intend-ed.Y

The anti-return bar 38 is supported at its ends in the frame member 8v'and the bracket rlhe forward end of the moving ratchet ar 38 isrotatably and -slidably supported upon a guide pin 40 fixed in the framemember 8, said pin fitting within an axial opening in the bar. rlhe rearend of the ratchet bar' 38 is attach-ed to a slide 41. .lnj the presentconstruction the ratchet bar 38 has an axial screw-threaded opening tolreceive the threaded portion of an adjusting stud (Fig. 12). On the stud42 is formed a hexagonal collar or flange 43. The stud 42 lits rotatablywithin an axial opening in the slide 41 and is confined therein, by ascrew 44 the inner end of which extends into a peripheral groove 45 inthe stud. Any suitable means may be used to hold the ratchet f bar 38 inadjusted positionL as, for'exarnple, spring plunger 46 adapted to enterany one of a plurality of holes 47 in the stud 42.

yThe outer end of the plunger 46 carries a knurled adjusting nut 48 bymeans of which the plunger may be manually operated to release the studto rotation. The anti-re turn ratchet bar 39 may be locked in arbljusted position by any suitable means, as, for example, a set screw 39ahaving an angular handle for turning it.

rlhe slid-e 41 is mounted inthe brackets 37 and 49, (Figs. 1 and2). y lnthe slide is formed a slot 50 extending peipendicularly tothe direction`of movement of the slide. Through this slot extends a crank pin 51carried by a lever 52. Said lever is longi. tudinally slotted to receivea rib or tongue 53 (Fig. 1a) formed on a sleeve 54 fixed to a shaft 55.A stud 56 and washer 57 serve to clamp the lever 52 to the sleeve 54. Tothe shaft is fixed a lever 58 which is connected by a link 59 ofadjustable length to a crank arm 6() (Fig. 10) on the shaft 21.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4: 61 is a feed dog and 62 aholding dogpivoted at 63 and 64, respectively, to thebody 35 of the forwarder. Saiddogs are held in engage ment with the forwarding ratchet bar 38 and:"the anti-return v ratchet y bar 89,1V respectively,

bya tension spring 65 wliichis connected -at f -its ends to studs 66iXed to the dogs.

Means is provided for simultaneously Vthrowing both dogs -61 and -62 inand out of engagement with the ratchet bars and 89.' This meansconsists, in the present instance,

of a trip-off lever 67 vpivoted.between its :ends at -68 to the, 4body85 of the forwarder. in

Each end ofthe -lever '67 is provided with two notches 69 and 70adapt-ed to receive the l. end of one of the studsi6. The notch -69-.i's

' out of engagement with rits bar. i that the fed movement yof theforwarder may `besuspended without returning the forwardsuflicientlydeep to allowthe dog to engage its ratchet bar; the notch 70 isfarther'froin the center 68 and is adapted to holdk thedog In order lerto-starting position, there is pivoted on Vthe lever67 at 71a stop lever72- having a notch 78 .adapted lto receive the stud 66 of the y feeddogv 611-andholdsaiddog away from` the forwarding ratchet bar 3,8.

Any suitable m-eans may be employed .to` vreturnf the forwarder 8 to'initial position after-a slab has been cut. The means herein showncomprises a weight 74; (Fig. 1*) connected to the forwarder through the'medium' of a chain 75 extend-ing around an idler 'sp-rocket 76 ontheginachine frame and a sprocket 77' on `the weight. One end of theVchain is fastened to theffforwarder, the other end being secured at 78.v'The weight 74 has a sliding'fit inthe airchamber79. In the lower'end ofthe air chamber is-an air vent 80. lWhen the dogs 61 and 62V aredisengaged from the ratchet bars,'the weight 7 4' pulls the 'forwarderIto its starting position, the descent of the weight being cushioned orchecked by theair'contained in the chamber 79 below the weight.

lnFigs. 6 and 9 isshown a stripper mechanism for insuring` that the slabshall not adhere to or be displaced by the knife or knives Y whenthe-latter are moved upwardly. Said mechanism comprises a plate 81attached to two parallel .studs y82 Vwhich are vvertically slidable inguide lugs 83 on a ybracket 84 fixed to the frame member 8. Coiled eX-`Eansive springs 85 surround the studsV 82 and ear against the upperlugs 83 and collars '864iiXed on the studs. Ontheupper ends far-enoughto lallow the roller to'descend, Athus permitting the springs 85 topress the t and v23' illustrate another form;

l are placed-uponthe belt 111.

plate 8.1 againstthe'fslab directlylbehind the line along whichthegsl-ab is lto be cut. lThe roller 92 and the slide bar 93- restrain'`the 'action of the springs 85. vTvVhen'the-knife rises the'plate 81remains pressed against'the slab, thus `prev-entingfthe slab froinbeingT910 -slab until the knifeis entirely clear Y'of the Y moved out ofproper position -asth-e knife ascends.V p

Means isprovided forl coactionfwith the guide 4 to hold the forwardportion of the slab-in proper` relation toith'e knives.` In the presentembodiment `the means referred to consists of aside guidepl'ateQt (Figsiand 11) attached to astud 95 which is yieldingly mounted in a bracket96.' jSaid bracket is adjustably secured to the framemember 8.' Inadvancing to the knives the slab :passes be. tween. the guidest and 94,as shown in vFig. 11. ,It frequently happens that brick molds becomedistorted through rough handling. A slab of ice cream frozen in such amold is `of course somewhat irregular Iin-fornt 'ihe guide 941-isVyieldifnglyinountedso that *it4 may yield to allow the passage of aslabvhaving a portion of excessive width.

Theineans Yfor reinoving'the severed por` tions from :the machine maybeofany suit-y able character.: Figs. 1ja-nd'2 show one arrangement ofconveyers, whileFigs. 21,-22, V Referring iirst to Figs. 1 and 2: 105 isa conveyer belt running overv pulleys 106 and 107 (F ig. 2)

the pulley `106 being located in position to support the upper run of4the 4belt-adjacent to the discharge end ofthe portion 2a'of the `topplate V2. The uppe'rlfrunof the -beltf105" 'travels upon aitable`(notshown) along both sides of which may be seated employees who jVtakelthe bricks or lother lportions from lthey belt, wrap' said.portions and lplace. the

vwrapped. portions upon two other belts 108 v and 109.r VClhe upperrunsof the last inenytioned belts extend overv atable (not shown) alongthe sides of lwhich-are stationed ein; ployees who take the wrappedportions and .place them in cartons.

InFigs.- 21, 22 and 23 are shown two conveyer belts 110 and 111arrangedside by side and traveling over a table 112. Bef tween`therbelts is a low partition 118.' The After the brickshave beenwrapped, they From 'this belt they are taken and 'placed' in cartons.

If -des'ired,vthe conveyer belts may be so arranged thatV the bricks,after Abeing' wrappedvand cartoned, can be delivered 'di Assumingthatvquart bricks are to be cut,

los4

im y

v'belt 110 is alined with the discharge fromH ythe cutting` machine andreceives/the bricks.

yrectly 4into the hardening room. i'

the operation is as'follows: Ther ratchet bars 38 and 89 are turned intothe `position shown l,

position illustrated in said ffigure.` The up# `in F ig. 1 andthe'fleve'r 52 is placedl inthe 2 in contact with the guide it. rilheoperator then swings the handleV of the lever 67 to the left .into theposition'shown in Fig. a,

whereby the dogs land 62 are placed in engagement with the ratchet bars88 and 89. in thereciprocation of the bar 38 the forwarder '3 isadvanced step by step, thus feeding the slab to the cutting mechanism,the slab being advanced while the knife is up, and the forwarder beingstationary while the knife is passing into and out of the slab. -Witheachy forward movement of the ratchet bar 38, the forwarder 3 isadvanced far enough to place the dog 62 suihciently ahead of theappropriate tooth of the bar 39 to ensure that the dog shall catch saidtooth when the ratchet bar 38 is retracted, theV weight '74 acting toplace the dog against said tooth.

The series of ratchet teeth of the bar 38 is of such length that theadvancing movement of the forwarderl Aceases when the slab hasVVforwarder 3 to starting position. t

TWhen pint bricks are to be cut, no change is required except theaddition of the knife 29.

Y] hen slices or cubes are to be cut, knives are used as-shown in Figs.17 and 18; the

ratchet bars 38 and 39 are turned to place the required series ofratchet teeth in position for engagement by the dogs Gl and 62; aA d thelever 52 is adjusted with reference to the shaft so that the length ofthe oscillation of said lever shall correspond to the length of eachadvance movement or ste i of the for wai-der. Y

it will be understood that various changes may be made without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

lVe claim as our invention:

l. An ice cream cutting` machine comprising, in combination, areciprocatory severer, means for feeding a slab of ice cream step by,step into the path of movement of the severer, and a reciprocatory platesupported independently of said severer and arranged to press down uponthe slab adjacent to the sever'erI while Vthe latter is rising, saidplate being operable to be lifted prior to each advance movement of theslab.

2. An ice cream cutting machine com.-

-said severer, a reciprocatory plate resiliently.

actuated to press down upon the slab adjacent the severer, a slidablesupport carrying said plate, and lever means having one arm in operativeengagement withsaid support and having another arm operativelyengageable by said severer when in retracted position to lift said plateprior to each advance movement of the slab.

3. An ice cream cutting machine having, in' combination, a movablymounted forwarder, an anti-return ratchet bar and a reciprocatoryratchet bar extending parallel with each other, two dogs on Vtheforwarder arranged to' engage said` bars respectively, means forindependently disengaging the dog having engagement with saidreciprocatory bar, and means for simultaneously disengaging both dogsfrom said ratchet bars.

il. An ice cream cutting machine having, in combination,y a movablymounted forwarder, an anti-return ratchet bar, a reciprocatory ratchetbar, two dogs on said forwarder arranged to engage said barsrespectively, a lever pivoted on said forwarder yadapted to operativelyyengage both of said dogs and simultaneously disengage them from saidbars, and a second lever adapted to operatively engage one only of saiddogs and disengage it from its respective bar.

5. An ice cream cutting machine having, in combination, a movablymounted forwarder, a ratchet bar supported for rotation on its axiswithout longitudinal movement, a parallel ratchet bar `supported forboth rotary and longitudinal movement, and a pair of dogs on saidforwarder arranged to engage said bars respectivelj/,each of said barshaving a plurality of longitudinally arranged series of ratchet teethformed on its several sides, the spacing of the teeth of each seriesbeing different from that of each other series on the same bar, likeseries-of teeth on the two bars being selectively presentable by therotation of said bars for engagement therewith by the said dogsrespectively.

6. An ice cream cutting machine` having, in combination, a inovablymounted forwarder, a stationary anti-return ratchet bar, alongitudinally reciprocatory ratchetY bar extending parallel to saidother'. bar, a pair of dogs on said forwarder' arranged to engage saidbars respectively, said reciprocatory bar having a plurality oflongitudinally arranged series of ratchet teeth formed on its severalsides, the spacing of the teeth of each series being different from thatof .each other series, said reciprocatory bar being rotatable on itsaxis to selectively present any series of teeth for engagement by itsrespective one of said dogs, and means forl imparting'reciprocatorymotion to said reciprocatory bar,

said means beingA adjustable to limit the Jmovement of said barselectively to distances coincident with the spacing of any of saidseries of teeth.

7. VAn ice cream cutting *machine having, in combination,v areciprocatory severer, an

' element for pushing a slab of ice cream into the path Yof the severer,a ratchet bar, a inember on the pushing element to engage the ratchetbar, a member' connected to the ratchet bar and havin T a slot eXtendinat an angle to the direction of movement of the ratchet bar, a rockshaft, and an arm adjustable radially of said shaft to vary the1novenienty of the arm, said arm having a crank knives fixed tothe otherk'knives in position to cut in half each of the portions cut bythesecond-mentioned knife.

9. An 'ice' cream cut-ting machine having, in combination, means forlongitudinally advancing a slab of ice cream,a reciprocatory knifearranged to sever the slab transversely `of the latter, a knifeforcutting in half the4 portion cut ofby the rst knife, said knivesacting simultaneously 'upon thexsamepor-` tion, vand two knives arrangedto cut in half each of the portions cut by the second knife,

said .twoknives actino' subsequently to the first and second knives.

l0. In an icecreambrick cutter having cutting mechanism, a frame', atable thereon; means for guiding aslab on the table;

.a pusher arm adapted` to propelthe slab; a

ratchet pawl connected with the pusher arm;

a slidably and rotatably mounted feed armv provided with longitudinalseries of spaced notches having shoulders adapted to engage theratchetpawl, the notchesin each series being' differently spaced fromthose inthe other series; means for rotating the feed arm vto bring aVselectedV series of notches into range with the ratchet pawl; means forimpartingv reciprocatory motion to the feed arm, and means for varyingthe throw of the feed arm. v y

In testimony whereof we have hereunto setv our hands.

Trinononnl L. vALERiUs; OLAF Lassen.

